ZIMBABWE'S major civic
organisations and the opposition Movement forDemocratic Change (MDC) have
begun planning a combined mass action that willkick off in the middle of
June and is aimed at forcing President RobertMugabe to step down to pave the
way for a transitional government, The DailyNews has
established.

The mass action, to take the
form of street demonstrations, willinvolve the MDC, the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), the Crisis inZimbabwe Coalition, Transparency
International-Zimbabwe (TIZ) and theZimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU).

NCA spokesman Douglas Mwonzora
yesterday confirmed that there wereplans by the five organisations to stage
a "massive" mass action to forceMugabe
out.

Gift Chimanikire, the MDC deputy
secretary-general, also confirmedthat his party was working with other civic
groups to force Mugabe out.

"Yes, we are
working with a number of partners, but I feel veryuncomfortable to discuss
the strategies because you should know that we aredealing with a rogue
regime. We won't get anywhere if we start talking aboutour strategies in
public," he said.

The MDC was yesterday
distributing flyers thanking the public forparticipating in a two-day job
stayaway in March and telling them to preparefor the "final push" in efforts
to intensify pressure on
Mugabe'sgovernment.

Armed police are
yesterday said to have fired shots into the air inHarare's Warren Park
suburb when they intercepted MDC activists distributingthe
flyers.

Mwonzora said the proposed mass
action was aimed at forcing Mugabe toamend the Constitution to make
provisions for a transitional government. Thetransitional government,
Mwonzora said, would be mandated with organisingfresh
elections.

"We have come to the conclusion
that Mugabe is the major obstacle toconstitutional reform, so he has to pave
way for a more level-headed personto take over. We are co-ordinating with
the MDC, the ZCTU, Crisis and TIZ toorganise a mass action that will force
government to at least makeconstitutional provisions to make it possible for
the establishment of atransitional authority," he told The Daily
News.

The ZCTU, TIZ and Crisis in Zimbabwe
leadership could not be reachedfor comment
yesterday.

But Mwonzora said they had
taken part in a meeting last week wherestrategies for the mass action were
mapped out.

The ZCTU has been urging the
public to stock up on food, saying itintended to call for an indefinite mass
action to force the government toimprove the living conditions of
workers.

A stayaway called by the labour
umbrella body last month shut downmost of industry and commerce as the ZCTU
pressed for the reversal of a fuelprice hike of up to 309
percent.

The NCA has held several
demonstrations to pressure the government todraft a new constitution. But
the government has said that the drafting of anew constitution is not a
priority.

Mwonzora said: "The mass action
will not be limited to a stayaway. Itmight also take the form of positive
demonstrations in the cities. What werealise is that although we might have
different agendas, we share a commonproblem and that is why we have been
co-ordinating to remove that
commonproblem.

"The mass action should
at the end yield direct results. We will needa firm commitment that the
government will immediately begin to work on theconstitutional amendments.
The mass action should be held in mid-June upuntil our demands are
met."

Meanwhile, MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai told a rally in Masvingoyesterday that his party was now
prioritising street protests over workstayaways in an attempt to press
Mugabe to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. Hesaid: "We want you this time to go
out into the streets. If you remainindoors, Mugabe will think everything is
okay."

THE government has yet to gazette
minimum wages it announced lastmonth, delaying implementation of new
salaries at a time workers have beenhit by the escalating cost of living, it
was learnt last week.

The government
announced on 24 April that it had agreed with business,under the Tripartite
Negotiating Forum (TNF), on new minimum wages rangingfrom $23 070 to $47
696, to cushion workers against price
increases.

Those in industry, commerce and
mining were to be paid $47 696 permonth while workers in the agriculture
sector were to get $23 070. Those inthe agro and horticulture sectors would
receive $42 168 a month.

The announcement
was made during a work stayaway organised by thecountry's labour watchdog,
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU),which brought most of industry
and commerce to a halt for three days.

ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo said the government's failure togazette the
new minimum wages had made it difficult for his organisation'saffiliates to
engage employers over new salaries. He said unions were beinghampered by the
fact that the new minimum wages were not yet
legallybinding.

Matombo accused the
government of "politicking and trying to fool thepeople into believing that
they have the concerns of the workers at
heart".

"It is difficult for the
government recommendations to be implementedin the absence of a legal
instrument. There is need for a statutoryinstrument to support the new
government measures," he said.

The ZCTU
president added: "In any case, the government does not wantto legislate its
proposals because most people in key positions in thegovernment are
employers and they would not want to pay those salaries. Theyown hotels,
shops and farms. In their own right, they are both employees
andexploiters."

But Lancester Museka,
the permanent secretary in the Ministry ofPublic Service, Labour and Social
Welfare, yesterday said it was up toNational Employment Councils to force
employers to pay minimum wages.

He said:
"Legal instruments to force employers to pay minimum wagescome out of
National Employment Councils.

"All the
employees who may not be receiving the minimum wages nowcould only mean that
the trade union and employer organisations in therespective industries have
not reached an agreement in the spirit of the
TNFstatement.''

The pro-government
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) alsosaid it was the
responsibility of unions to negotiate with
employers.

Joseph Chinotimba, the vice
president of the ZFTU said: "Thegovernment made its own recommendations and
set standards for minimum wagesfor each sector of the economy, but unions
were supposed to negotiate withthe
employers.

"Now that the employers have
failed to meet our expectations, we haveappealed to the government to pass a
law that forces compliance,'' he said.

Chinotimba said his union had failed to convince farmers to awardtheir
workers $23 070 a month.

But Matombo
argued that minimum wages could not be discussed atsectoral level because
they were a national issue.

He said even
if some employers were to comply with the salariesproposed by the
government, "the ZCTU would push for a minimum wage of $125000 per month
because this is the realistic figure".

Workers have been hit hard by Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis,under
which rampant inflation has forced up the cost of living beyond thereach of
most people.

THE government of Zimbabwe has yet
again contrived to make aninternational spectacle of itself with its
ill-advised and unlawfuldeportation of Guardian journalist Andrew
Meldrum.

The veteran journalist was last
week declared a prohibited immigrant,allegedly for "writing bad stories
about Zimbabwe", and bundled out ofHarare on Friday
night.

This was despite a High Court
ruling last July declaring him a bonafide resident of Zimbabwe, and an order
issued by the court on Fridaybarring his deportation and ordering his
release.

Meldrum becomes one in a long
list of foreign and local journalistswho have fallen victim to the
government's worsening intolerance ofcriticism and views that do not conform
to its own skewed idea of thesituation in
Zimbabwe.

He has also become only one of
hundreds of people in this countrywhose rights to freedom of expression and
assembly have been trampled on asthe ruling ZANU PF attempts to stamp down
on rising dissatisfaction with
itsrule.

It is tragic for the nation
that the government fails to realise, orsimply does not care, that its
iron-fisted response to its citizens'attempts to express basic rights that
they are guaranteed by theConstitution is fuelling the tension it prefers,
ostrich-like, not to see.

Far from
stamping out criticism or dissent through its heavy-handedmethods, the
government has merely made Zimbabweans more determined toexpress their
growing unhappiness with the impact of the country's economiccrisis. A
crisis that is widely blamed on the government's own
discreditedpolicies.

Through its
deportation of Meldrum, President Robert Mugabe's regimehas merely added to
the list of journalists who are determined to tell thetrue story of
Zimbabwe, even if they have to do it from beyond the
country'sborders.

The government's
crude actions will not silence Meldrum or otherjournalists. Just as they
have not silenced the thousands of Zimbabweans whoare increasingly
determined to speak out despite harsh legislation designedto frighten them
into keeping quiet even though their suffering has
becomeunbearable.

For most people,
remaining silent is no longer an option as they dailystruggle to put food on
the table.

It has even become a struggle
for them to travel to work to earn moneyto buy the expensive and scarce food
they need to feed children theyincreasingly cannot afford to clothe or send
to school.

Silence is no longer an option
for Zimbabweans who have to live infear of persecution for holding different
views or exercising their right tobelong to the party of their
choice.

The government should clearly be
concerning itself with getting togrips with the economic meltdown that is
causing so much suffering to itspeople and cleaning up an image that has
been tarnished in the eyes of thecivilised
world.

It cannot do this by inviting
international criticism and ridicule forflouting court rulings and trampling
on the basic rights of Zimbabweans.

Meldrum's deportation has already drawn fire from the
internationalcommunity, with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw calling it
"petty andvindictive", and a United States state department official
pointing out thatit "reflects ongoing erosion of basic rights and the rule
of law".

Foreign investors and
international multilateral agencies that havealready washed their hands of
Zimbabwe will also not look kindly on thislatest demonstration of the
government's utter contempt for the rule of
law.

Zimbabweans are a patient lot, but
their patience is not infinite. Itis to be hoped that the government
realises that most people have nowreached the end of their tether and should
not be tried too far.

The editor of New African
magazine wrote in the issue of March 2002No. 405 that it was time African
journalists in Africa started behaving likethe "fourth estate of the
realm".

Baffour Ankomah describes the
fourth estate of the realm as the fourtharm of the
government.

While in agreement with
Ankomah that the media occupy a very importantplace in nation building
anywhere in the world, I do not think that this canbest be done through
peddling lies, publishing falsehoods and misinformingthe general
public.

Only through thorough research and
accurate reporting can the massesknow exactly what is happening and which
side they choose to be on. But forAnkomah to think that nation building can
only be achieved through reportingpro-government news, also means that his
perception of African journalists'reporting is biased towards those of the
West.

Ankomah describes his ideal
journalist in the British media as beingobedient, tame, stupid, even unable
to bite or bark, thus likening them
tosheep.

Ankomah feels that "from time
to time, the media may attack certaingovernment policies or expose certain
government wrongdoings and corruption". I wonder what he meant about time to
time.

As I see it, the media can attack
the government and its policies anytime that it feels there is a reason for
the public to know of anywrongdoing, even if it means doing so every day -
not telling lies orhalf-truths, but simply telling it like it
is.

Here at home, Ankomah's sheep are the
State media reporters. How elsedoes he expect the independent media to
report when the government itselfgives them the material to report
on?

The Herald never reports anything
positive about the oppositionneither do they point out the faults of the
bullying party or, more aptly,the ruining party. The government media is
engaged in institutionalisedmendacity - cheating the people with outright
lies.

"Following the Flag" is following
the government's lead in policymatters, seeking to glorify them even if they
are bad.

For instance, the land policy
which the government has adopted shouldhave had the support of the media
even when the way the land was beingacquired and distributed was haphazard.
Talk about hoodwinking.

Ankomah's opinion
is that the media must "help the government tocontrol the masses by acting
as a sieve between the state and the
citizenry".

The people are just
allowed enough information to think that they arepart of the government but
the bulk of it being hidden from them.

Anyone in their right mind who read the story in The Herald
headlined"President Mugabe speaks on MDC petition" can see that it has
passed througha very fine sieve.

The
State media gives the people the very obvious, insignificant anduseless
information. Knowledge is power.

By giving
the people full, adequate and accurate information, theindependent media is
also empowering them to make decisions on
theirdestiny.

In the same issue of New
African, Ankomah's real world includesBritain, the United States and France.
If his perceptions of the real worldare so biased then he is a lost
soul.

Living in Europe for 15 years does
not necessarily make him one ofthem.

There is a Shona saying: "Gunguwo nyangwe rikashamba sei idemachete" -
literally translated: No matter how much a crow cleanses itself, itwill
still remain black.'

If he was in his
motherland and seeing how much the public is beingdeceived by the state,
maybe he would take a stand against it, or maybe hewould be silenced one way
or another into being a Reuben Barwe.

Ankomah's visit to Zimbabwe came hard on the heels of his article inNew
African.

Is it not surprising that after
writing such glorifying pro-Mugabestuff in the article we find him in our
backyard? Was it purely coincidentalor was he
invited?

It is also interesting to note
that with his way of thinking and hisview, he was interviewed by none other
than Zanu PF apologist,
SupaMandiwanzira.

Please, Ankomah,
what should be and what is are different
things.

Journalists worth their salt
cannot take a pro-government stand whilethe country rots just because they
want to be the fourth estate of
therealm.

SHORTAGES of cooking oil
have created opportunities for emergingmedium-sized companies, which are
slowly challenging the monopoly ofZimbabwe's established cooking oil
manufacturers.

A snap survey by The
Business Daily last week showed that the newplayers were entrenching
themselves in urban high-density suburbs, growthpoints and rural
areas.

Though their turnover is much lower
than that of larger, establishedmanufacturers, representatives of the new
entrants said their profit marginswere
high.

Some of the small operators said
they were realising profit margins ofwell over 100
percent.

They attributed their success to
severe shortages of basiccommodities, including cooking oil, which are
partly blamed on a sharpdecline in agricultural
output.

Analysts say production on farms
has fallen by more than 50 percent inthe past two years because of drought
and the government's disruptive landreform
programme.

The drop in output has affected
manufacturers, including cooking oilproducers, who rely on the farming
sector for their inputs. Producers havealso been hard hit by State-imposed
price controls, which threaten theviability of most manufacturers and has
forced them to reduce output.

The
resulting shortage of basic commodities has created a thrivingblack market
where prices are sometimes more than 10 times those gazetted bythe
government.

Analysts said price controls
had led to reduced production fromestablished companies, paving the way for
the smaller players.

Keen to break into
the market, the emerging cooking oil manufacturersare pegging their prices
at lower levels than those charged by
largerplayers.

For instance, a 750ml
bottle of cooking oil retails for around $2 200in most shops, a little less
than the price gazetted for one litre ofcooking
oil.

They can afford to lower their prices
to attract customers becausethey have no packaging costs. Consumers are
asked to bring their owncontainers.

Escalating production costs are, however, still a problem because oframpant
inflation, officials with emerging cooking oil manufacturers
said.

The companies also have to import
most of their raw materials - whichinclude cotton, soyabean and sunflower
seed - and have to buy their foreigncurrency on the more expensive parallel
market to pay for the importedinputs.

Manufacturers have also been hit hard by Zimbabwe's fuel crisis andpower
rationing, but an official with a manufacturer in Norton said hiscompany had
more than doubled its turnover in the past year, despite
theproblems.

The official said:
"Despite the challenges, we employ an average 20people permanently.
Depending on the nature and quantum of work to beaccomplished in a given
period, we frequently hire casual
workers."

Donald Gwisai, chairman of
Banwax Enterprises in Harare, said demandfor his company's products was so
high that it had difficulty fullyservicing its
customers.

This was especially so at
month-ends and during holidays, he said.

Gwisai told The Business Daily: "Certainly we are wrestling withestablished
companies, but we have managed to take away a significant
marketshare."

The firm has also
ventured into stockfeed manufacturing and isexpanding by opening branches in
Masvingo and Mozambique.

ZIMBABWE needs to spend up to
US$20 million (about Z$16,48 billion) inthe next two years to combat the
deadly foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease, whichhas cost the country its lucrative
beef exports, according to a report bythe Cattle Producers' Association
(CPA).

The Department of Veterinary
Services (DVS) is battling to controlFMD, but its efforts are being hampered
by the illegal movement of cattle inareas that have been branded FMD
zones.

According to the CPA report, the
disease has also been worsened by themovement of cattle from areas that have
been worst hit by drought to thosethat have better
pastureland. Sales of cattle to raise money to
purchase food have also resulted inthe illegal movement of
cattle.

"The DVS is experiencing
difficulty in controlling the spread of FMDdue to the increased movement of
cattle.

"There is therefore a need to
vaccinate increased numbers of cattle insensitive areas against FMD, with
forex requirements over two years ofUS$15-20 million," the report
said.

The FMD vaccines have to be
imported, but it is unlikely that theZimbabwe government will be able to
raise the hard cash required because itis already battling to find forex for
fuel and electricity imports.

The Food and
Agriculture Organisation has made an appeal for US$4million to help fight
FMD in Zimbabwe, but is still to receive a responsefrom international
donors.

Zimbabwe stopped exports of
chilled boneless beef to the EuropeanUnion (EU) market in August 2001
because of the disease. The country had abeef quota of 9 000 tonnes in the
EU.

The CPA said the commercial cattle
beef herd had declined from a highof 436 000 in 2000 to below 200 000 by the
end of last year.

Besides a massive
destocking exercise that reached its peak last year,the CPA said the
industry had also been hit by shortages of
stockfeeds.

Grain shortages, a result of
the drought in the past agricultureseason and reduced output from the
commercial farming sector, have beenblamed for the acute shortage of
stockfeeds.

"The Cattle Producers'
Association believes that the level ofdestocking reached its peak in 2002 as
the pressure on commercial farms inthe form of harassment, extortion and
evictions intensified," the CPA said.

AS the ZANU PF government
continues to tread lightly on the prevailingsocio-economic hardships, the
nation has waited in vain and with batedbreath for a twist of sobriety to
dawn on President Robert Mugabe.

With each
day that passes, the populace anticipates that he willrealise, most probably
with a jolt, just how turbulent the times
havebecome.

The Mugabe reign is now
characterised by gloom and despair as opposedto love and cheer. With the
government digging its heels deep and grittingits teeth in political
intolerance, and the cost of living ballooning beyondreach, there honestly
is absolutely nothing to smile about.

Anyone who subscribes to the belief that the government will claw fromthe
quagmire is as out of touch with basics as one who argues that Genesisis the
last book in the Bible.

The government, in
its desperate bid to cling on to power at any cost,committed a host of
political miscalculations that resulted in the wreckingof the
country.

The country now needs a complete
engine overhaul, thoroughpanel-beating and spray-painting to be back on
track. Needless to mentionthat Mugabe does not have the prowess to perform
the repairs, nor does hehave the menial skills to pass on the tools to those
undertaking the repairworks.

With all
due respect, the best he can do is to surrender the keys andfind himself a
quiet place where he will not even hear the noise emanatingfrom the
repairs.

The politics of survival that is
being practised by the ZANU PFgovernment is as ruinous as that of an eye for
an eye. It leaves everyoneblind. It is extremely cold-hearted for the
government to defer owning up tothe prevailing hardships since they are a
by-product of its skewed policies.

With
the full knowledge that commercial agriculture was the country'sprime
foreign currency earner, the government, in a bid to appease and lurethe
rural electorate, embarked on a hysterical programme of unseating thosewho
made good of the farms.

Fuel
supplies were flowing well under the system that allowed the thenfive fuel
companies to import fuel. There was once a time when there was aglut,
prompting service station attendants to clean windscreens in a bid towin
customers.

All this soon became a thing of
the past with the introduction of theNational Oil Company of Zimbabwe, a
government wholly-owned company thatbecame known more for corrupt practices
than fuel procurement.

Skewed government
policies have wreaked havoc in the transport sector.Revelations that the
lives that were lost in railway accidents could havebeen avoided if the
powers-that-be had acted with diligence on thetechnocrats' recommendations
are strong enough evidence to haul thegovernment to court to answer for
culpable homicide.

While the railway
service has lost all claims to safety, reliabilityand dependability, the
road service is in a worse off
predicament.

Impromptu promises of
duelising highways are echoed each time a majoraccident occurs, but are
never followed up with action.

The state
of most roads is crying for attention yet the government isdeaf to the cries
and blind to the deplorable conditions.

Air transport has not been spared either. Aviation rules arecompromised with
the latest confirmation that an Air Zimbabwe plane fromLondon had an
emergency landing in Lusaka after running dangerously low
onfuel.

In the airline industry, it is
known that passengers are booked intoAir Zimbabwe as a last resort due to
fears of being inconvenienced byschedule
changes.

Amid all these glaring problems,
the government treads lightly on theeffects of its shortcomings. The
shortages of basic foodstuffs that thegovernment blames on "unscrupulous
manufacturers who want to exploit themasses" quickly comes to
mind.

As the disruptions on commercial
farms took place, at no point did thegovernment ever pose to think that it
had pronounced the death sentence onall food-processing companies by
disrupting the source of raw materials.

If
ever there was an award for skewed decisions, the one made by thegovernment,
that of leapfrogging Zambia to fight in the Democratic Republicof Congo
(DRC), would lift the
trophy.

Despite being unbudgeted for, as
was the case with the $50 000 paid toeach war veteran in 1997, heavy
financial, material and human resourceswere, in the style of the biblical
sower, indiscriminately scattered in theDRC war. Up to now, the balance
sheet, if ever it was done, has not yet beenmade
public.

With a Cabinet as large as an
orchestra, Mugabe has failed to tightenthe nuts and bolts of the government,
resulting in the wrecking of
thecountry.

The Professor, whose
tongue has never known rest ever since he washand-picked in 2000, has caused
more burns and blisters than those he wantedto soothe - his propaganda is
too cheap to hoodwink even the nutty of
thenuttiest.

He has made a shoddy job
of covering the cracks and whitewashing thepatches of the crumbling
regime.

When he gloated over the foreign
currency that was to be generatedfrom the Miss Malaika contest, the solar
eclipse and the hosting of somecricket matches, the Professor spoke as if
these one-off events were alasting supply source of foreign currency, yet
they were not. The eventscame and went, but foreign currency shortages
continue in their intensity tohaunt the
nation.

With the nationwide teachers'
strike underway, coming against thebackdrop of other problems needing urgent
attention, for Mugabe governingthe country is now an exercise in
futility.

It is, therefore, not asking too
much of him to take immediate andfull responsibility for the failures than
to continue to compound thepopulace's woes with more of his public displays
of belligerence andobsession.

There is
consensus that due to his intransigence, Mugabe committed thegrievous error
of mistaking the headlamp of an oncoming train for light atthe end of the
tunnel. Hence the head-on collusion that wrecked the
economy.

It is my fervent hope and prayer
that the long-awaited sobriety dawnson him now as the brunt of his
shortcomings is too burdensome to bear.

Pension Fund Savings Now Very Little As Inflation Rate Continues
to GallopUpwards

Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)

COLUMNMay 18, 2003Posted to the web May 19,
2003

Vince Musewe

Given the ever increasing rate of inflation
and job mobility, it is mostprobable that your pension fund savings will
merely be able to buy younewspapers

To at least maintain the
purchasing power of your savings, you would havehad to at least match the
double-digit inflation return which is highlyunlikely. When your fund
manager invests your savings, he must invest atleast 45% in prescribed
assets which are effectively the very low interestbearing government
securities

Your fund manager then has only 55% to invest elsewhere,
this could be inequities or properties. In order to diversify risk, she
cannot invest inonly a few companies but several companies across the stock
exchange andmust also still hold some cash in case there are some big
withdrawals fromthe fund

Let's say she holds 10% in cash. So
effectively she must invest 55% ininstruments where returns are way below
inflation and only 45% in equitiesor property. To beat inflation, your fund
manager must take more risk andinvest your fund in select companies that she
is almost sure will givebetter returns than cash. But as we all know, there
are no guarantees atall! It is therefore very tough to be a fund manager in
such a situation

It is most probable that your fund manage cannot beat
inflation with thetotal returns of your fund and there goes your life
savings! Remember, asyou get older you need more medicines and so on and you
have to haveadequate funds for day-to-day living too

Added to this is
the fact that people hardly work for one company in theirlife time and as
they job hop, they withdraw from one pension fund toanother and most people
do the natural thing, cash in on a third of theirmoney as allowed by the
law, and then put the remainder in a preservationaccount. But do investments
in a preservation account beat inflation? Idoubt

The dilemma is that,
the returns you are earning now on your current fundwill not be enough to
fund your retirement costs and any funds you mighthave put aside are also
not probably earning decent returns. This means thateveryone is getting
poorer and poorer. You may say, save more, but in ourenvironment who can
save more where most employees are battling to survive?

The implications
of this are that, the economy has been systematicallydestroyed right through
to your pension fund savings. Even if you areemployed, you are actually
getting poorer everyday you wake up to go towork. If you are unemployed, you
are in big trouble since jobs are notincreasing at all, and if you are a
pensioner, you cannot manage

The stress that comes from surviving in such
an environment means that theaverage life expectation of Zimbabweans is
further reduced besides theimpact of Aids

The above is what the
current government has delivered to all Zimbabweansafter a mere 23 years in
power. It is really not about land any more, is it?Its about our life
expectancy, its about being alive or dead

I do not think that many of us
have seriously considered the negative impactthe current government has had
on our lives. The future is no longer what itused to be 10 or so years ago.
Even in they go, the serious damage has beendone to our national psyche and
this will take forever to repair

The obvious reaction to the above is
that you either maximize your earningsnow or leave the country if you can,
its about life choices not patriotism

This same dilemma is faced not only
by employees but by companies too

Companies that choose to relocate are
making a choice about stayingoperative or staying and going out of business.
Expecting them to stickaround as a sign of patriotism is
naïve

Patriotism for what-the patriotism of poverty is based on those who
have nochoice but to endure it

Quote of the week Every clique is a
refuge for incompetence. It fosterscorruption and disloyalty, it begets
cowardice, and consequently is a burdenupon and a drawback to the progress
of the country. Its instincts andactions are those of the pack.-Madame
Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese revolutionaryleader

* Vince Musewe is an
independent consultant and co-author of the book "ATrustee's Guide To
Investment Management" and may be contacted onpensions36@hotmail.com

THE Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has once again reiterated theneed for the
government to lure back multilateral development partners thatcan help to
drag Zimbabwe out of its present economic quagmire

At a breakfast meeting
in Harare to evaluate progress achieved under theNational Economic Recovery
Programme (NERP), one after the other of thechief executives underlined to
the Cabinet ministers present that thecountry can not rise out of the
current economic morass without theassistance of the international
community

Zimbabwe has alienated most of the international community
and keyinternational monetary bodies and the price it has paid has been the
seriousforeign currency squeeze that has hounded the country during the last
twoyears

"There has to be a macroeconomic solution that normalises
our relations withmultilateral lenders. We cannot be disengaged from the
internationalcommunity and we can't be lone rangers. The sooner we realise
and come toterms with that the better," said Delta chief executive, Joe
Mutizwa

Delta, which recently increased the prices of its 300-ml and
1-litre softdrinks to $300 and $900 respectively, has been reeling under
severe foreigncurrency shortages to import maize, glass bottles and carbon
dioxide

Mutizwa told the ministers to disengage themselves from the
"I-know-it-all"attitude and consult the business community that he said was
bountiful withexpertise in drawing up recovery programmes

Farm
invasions spearheaded by ruling party loyalists, the pursuance ofirrational
economic policies and the wholesale abandonment of the rule oflaw, have
destroyed Zimbabwe's credit rating resulting in the termination ofnumerous
lines of credit to the southern African country

Dairiboard Zimbabwe chief
executive Anthony Mandiwanza said the resumptionof aid from the
international community would augment business efforts togenerate foreign
currency

"We need to move away from a mode of denial to a mode of
acceptance. Wecan't rescucitate this economy without international support.
Our suppliersnow require us to pay cash upfront so we need to open lines of
credit. Wecannot continue cheating ourselves," said Mandiwanza

Shingi
Mutasa, TA Holdings' executive chairman, also said Zimbabwe could
notcontinue to isolate itself from the international financial
institutionsthat are controlled by the Western economies

Reacting to
the concerns of the business executives, Murerwa said hisgovernment was
working with multilateral lenders as evidenced by his visitto the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank's spring meetings inWashington
last month

"It is essential to engage the IMF and World Bank. Last month
we had a gooddiscussion with their executives and we remain ready to engage
them,"Murerwa said

Analysts however say the Bretton Wood
institutions, who are controlled bythe United States and other powerful
Western interests, would only return toZimbabwe once the political crisis in
the country has been solved.

As promised herewith the summary of our very successful
compensationmeeting held at Art Farm on Thursday 15th May 2003 for the
farmers who wereunable to attend.

COMPENSATION - THE FULL
STORY

HELD AT ART FARM ON 15 MAY 2003 AT 10.00AM

PRESENT Alan Burl
- Alan Burl is a well-known farmer from the Maronderaarea and served as
President of the CFU from 1988 till 1992. Alan hasserved with
distinction on various other committees and is a well respectedpersonality
in the farming world. Alan will be the chairman of
themeeting.

Louis Bennet - Louis Bennet is a retired Lawyer with
Kantor and Immerman.Louis will address the meeting on the legal aspects of
compensation andreflect on the history of land tenure leading up to the
present situation.

Alan Higgins - Allan Higgins is a valuator with
Redfern and Mullet and isstanding in for the chairman of the Valuators
Consortium. Allan willaddress the issues around valuation of Land and
Improvements.

Andy Laing - Andy Laing is a loss assessor from Bulawayo
and runs his ownfirm Losscon. Andy will deal with the issue of
Consequential Loss or OtherDisturbance Loss or Other Losses. Andy was
involved in the setting up ofthe original Loss Document.

David Scott
- David Scott is currently a Senior Partner with PriceWaterhouse
Coopers. He is also the current president of the Institute ofChartered
Accountants in Zimbabwe. David will explain the role ofaccountants and
auditors and the procedures that will be implemented.

Kerry Kay - Kerry
Kay is a well known farmer's wife, HIV/AIDS ProjectManager and Family
Therapy and Traumatized Child Counselor. Kerry willspeak on the
necessity of dealing with the gross human rights violationsperpetrated
against the farmers, farm workers and all their families.

340
Farmers

The meeting was called to order and everyone welcomed by the
Chairman MrAlan Burl who introduced the speakers.

Tim Neill opened
the meeting with a reading and a prayer.

THE LAW AND COMPENSATION - Louis
BennetWe all know that the law is an `Ass', but in Zimbabwe with no Rule of
Lawit has become like a `Drunken Donkey from Darwendale'.

Against
that background let me briefly comment on where I believe farmersstand in
regard to:1. Compensation for land and improvements2. Compensation for
consequential losses3. Position re: Prescription or otherwise of
compensation claim

COMPENSATIONIn my view, the legal position as to
who is liable to compensate for thefarmers land, improvements thereon and
consequential losses is governed,inter alia, by whether the amendments to
the Land Acquisition Act are legalor not. Here you will know that those
amendments under the Quinnell casehave been challenged on the basis that
they are unconstitutional andtherefore of no force or effect. That challenge
is presently before theSupreme Court, which sitting as a Constitutional
Court will in due coursemake a decision. This issue has been pending for
some time with the delayhaving both advantage and disadvantage. The
advantage being that until ajudgment is handed down, farmers can continue to
raise this constitutionalissue as an argument in support of a suspension or
cancellation of anySection 8 Order that they receive.

Returning to
the issue of compensation, if the Supreme Court under itsChief Justice,
Godfrey Chidyausiku, directs that the amendments are legaland
constitutional, then the provisions for compensation of agriculturalland
required for resettlement purposes must follow the Land AcquisitionAct and
in particular Sections 29A, 29B, 29D and Parts I and II of theSchedule to
Section 29C.

Section 29A deals with the establishment of the Compensation
Committee madeup of the Secretary of the Ministry responsible for Lands, the
Secretaryresponsible for Justice, the Secretary for the Ministry responsible
forFinance, the Director of Agricultural, Technical and extension
services,the Chief Land Officer, the Chief Government Valuation Officer and
not morethan 5 other members appointed by the Minister.

Section 29B
lays down the procedure for assessing compensation, which onlyrelates to the
improvements and not the land. A designated ValuationOfficer is required, as
soon as possible after a Preliminary Notice(Section 5 (1)) has been
published to prepare a preliminary estimate of thecompensation payable for
improvements and transmit this preliminaryassessment to the Compensation
Committee. On receipt of the preliminaryassessment of compensation, the
Compensation Committee after carrying outsuch further investigations as it
considers necessary, shall without delay:-

i. Prepare its own estimate of
the compensation payable and,

ii. Given written notification of its
estimate to every person who isentitled to be paid compensation in respect
of the acquisition concernedand,

iii. Inviting such person if he
disputes the Compensation Committee'sestimate, to submit, in such manner and
within such reasonable time as theCompensation Committee may specify, any
representations, whether in theform of claim for compensation or otherwise
that the person may wish tomake in regard to the Compensation Committee's
estimate of compensationpayable to him.

iv. After considering any
representation submitted the CompensationCommittee will fix the compensation
payable for improvements and the personshall be advised thereof in
writing.

I am not aware of this procedure being followed and very little
if any,notice has been taken by Government of its own law. What usually
happens isthat an advert is put in the media asking for certain farm owners
to attendat the office of the Ministry of Lands. A ridiculously small offer
is madewithout any valuation or information as to how the figure is arrived
at,with the farmer being required to accept the offer on condition that
hehands over his title deeds and receives payment if and when the
Governmentis in a position to pay.

The principles regarding
assessment of compensation in terms of the LandAcquisition Act for
improvements on or to agricultural land required forresettlement purposes is
set out in Part 1 of the Schedule to Section 29 C.There are 9 paragraphs to
that Schedule dealing with: the condition of theimprovements, the quality of
the building construction, grazing veld,containing dams, dips, spray-races
and fencing, irrigated land, perennialor plantation crops, tobacco curing
facilities, boundary fencing,electrical installations etc.

Whatever
compensation is offered must be with the approval of the Ministerresponsible
for Finance provided that:-

a) At least one quarter of the compensation
payable shall be paid at thetime the property is acquired or within a
reasonable time thereafter;

b) A further one-quarter of the compensation
payable shall be paid withintwo years after the land concerned was
acquired.

c) The balance of the compensation payable shall be paid within
five yearsafter the land concerned was acquired.

Compensation payable
in terms of subsection (1) of Section 29 C shall notextend to compensation
for loss suffered or expense incurred by the owneror occupier of the
agricultural land arising out;

· The removal or eviction of the owner or
occupier from the land; or

· His inability to conduct any activity on the
land concerned, whether as aresult of a notice in terms of Section 5 or
otherwise:

· Any other circumstances incidental to the acquisition of the
landconcerned.

Therefore if the amendments to the Act are legal there
is no claim forconsequential losses and the farmer is virtually restricted
to whatever theCompensation Committee chooses to offer and which will then
be paid overthe five-year period.

In addition, with regard to
compensation for the land itself, Section 29(C) of the Land Acquisition
Amendment Act provides that compensation shallbe payable for the land where
an adequate fund for that purpose isestablished in accordance with
subsection 1 of Section 16 A of theConstitution. In that amendment to the
Constitution the Mugabe Governmentdeclared that as the indigenous people
were `unjustifiably dispossessed' ofthe land by the former colonial power,
the Zimbabwe Government has noobligation to compensate for the land, but if
the former colonial power (UKGovernment) establishes a compensation fund for
the land then the ZimbabweGovernment will make payment of compensation from
that fund subject on theprinciples regarding compensation assessment as set
out in Part II of theaforesaid Schedule. This means that if at any time the
UK Government makesfunds available for land compensation then the Zimbabwe
Government willrequire the compensation to be paid first to it, before it
gives anycompensation to the farmer.

On the other hand if the Supreme
Court decides that the amendments to theLand Acquisition Act are
unconstitutional then the Government of Zimbabwe'sactions in taking over the
farms and driving off the registered owners ofthe property would in law be
regarded as an unlawful act from which theinjured party, the farmer, would
be entitled at common law to claim damagesfor all losses suffered including
the land, improvements thereon andconsequential losses, which are not too
distant, provided all reasonablesteps were taken to mitigate any of these
losses.

At this stage, as I see the position, until the Supreme Court
makes adecision in the Quinnell Case we seem to be in a `limbo' situation or
legalvacuum. Therefore, it would be prudent for farmers to prepare their
claimsfor compensation both in respect of land and the improvements thereon
andalso all the consequential losses they have suffered. There is no
guaranteethat compensation will be paid but unless they have prepared
andestablished their claims by means of valuations of their fixed assets
andconfirmed their consequential losses, then the possibility of receiving
anycompensation at some time in the future, even if it is the distant
future,will not be successful. Many farmers I am aware, have already
arranged forthe title deeds of their farms to be placed in safe keeping
outsideZimbabwe in the hope that at some time in the future they will be
able toprove that they owned the land so as to establish their right
tocompensation. The issue then arises as to the amount of the claim for
thatcompensation. It is for this purpose that JAG has established a
valuationdatabase, which hopefully the CFU will support so as to have all or
amajority of farmers, log onto this database with valuations of their
farmsand the improvements thereon together with the basis for and the
amounts ofthe farmers' consequential losses so as to create a critical mass
offarmers reflecting the total amount of compensation necessary and to
beclaimed.

Is anyone liable to pay compensation to the farmers other
than under thevalueless provisions of the Land Acquisition Act?

The
answer to the above is somewhat difficulty, but I believe that
Zimbabwecommercial farmers have lost their farms, homes, their present and
futurelivelihoods by the current actions of the Government of Zimbabwe
andpossibly the past actions of the former colonial power namely
theGovernment of the UK.

There is no doubt that the Government of
Zimbabwe is the actual present dayperpetrator of the loss and trauma
suffered by the farmers, their familiesand also the farm
workers.

However, on what basis could Mugabe when he amended the
Constitution inApril 2000 declare that the `Government of Zimbabwe has no
obligation tocompensate the white farmers for the land because the former
colonial power(the Government of the United Kingdom) had `unjustifiably
dispossessed' theindigenous people of their land?' That amendment goes on to
provide thatunless the former colonial power establishes an adequate
compensation fundfor the land, then Government of Zimbabwe has no obligation
to compensatethe farmers therefore.

The historical background of the
land situation in Zimbabwe could perhapsplace the present UK Government
under a moral if not legal obligation tocompensate for the actions of
previous British Imperial Governmentsbecause:

· In the 1890s, the
land was possibly first taken by stealth and notconquest but in any event
never paid for.

· In 1923 the sale of that land by the British Government
for 2 millionpounds to the white settlers.

· After both world wars in
1919 and 1945 the British Government includingeven a labour Government of
encouraged white settlers to come to theSouthern Rhodesia and make their
permanent homes including farms in thiscountry.

· After independence
in 1980, in accordance with some arrangement atLancaster, the British
Government without its present conditions of "TheRule of Law, Transparency
etc" did make grants to the Zimbabwean Governmentto purchase from farmers on
a willing seller/willing buyer basis, farmingproperties. Has the UK
Government reneged on this arrangement by moving thegoal post with its new
requirements re: Rule of Law etc?

These historical facts cannot be
disputed and hopefully if correctlypresented could bring about the
possibility of compensation from the UKGovernment and/or international
donors. Again even for such a compensationapproach to be made the farmers'
representatives must have figures forcompensation claimed based on
valuations etc to establish the lossessuffered by farmers.

It is
known that those Asians, who were chased from Uganda, but whoretained their
Title Deeds and had valuations supporting their compensationclaims did
eventually receive external compensation. I know that this tooka long time
but the world has moved on and the Zimbabwe crisis is very muchin the
forefront of human rights abuses and hopefully it won't take over 20years
before compensation is forthcoming.

PRESCRIPTIONI wish to deal
shortly with the issue of prescription. Section 15 (d) ofthe Prescription
Act Chapter 8:11 states that "the period of prescriptionof a debt shall be -
except where any enactment provides otherwise, threeyears in the case of any
other debt". Generally prescription begins to runas soon as the debt is due
but prescription is delayed inter alia if thedebtor is outside Zimbabwe,
which may be the case if the debtor is the UKGovernment.

Why I raise
the question of prescription is because it could be argued thatfarmers must
bring any action for compensation within three years ofservice of a Section
5 (1) Notice/publication or Section 8 or only afterconfirmation of an
acquisition order made in terms of Section 7. I aminclined to the view that
the prescription period commences from theservice of the Section 8 Order
unless that has been suspended or set asideby the High Court. I must stress
however that there are conflicting legalviews on this issue.

However,
prescription can be interrupted by the issue of legal processclaiming
compensation before the expiry of the prescription period.Moreover, a debt
shall not be deemed due until the creditor becomes awareof the identity of
the debtor and of the facts with which the debt arises.At this stage a
farmer could argue that he is not aware of whether thedebtor is the
Government of Zimbabwe or the Government of the UK, or bothof them, the one
paying the other to be absolved.

Nevertheless, I repeat, before any claim
for compensation can be made, itis essential for the farmer to be able to
prove, through a valuation of hisfarm and improvements thereon coupled with
established and accepted factsof any consequential losses that a full claim
for compensation may beinstituted.

That is why farmers must obtain
valuations of their farms and establishtheir consequential losses with this
information available for inclusion inthe database.

I hope the above
comments will be of some help but should you require anyfurther information
please do not hesitate to contact me.

CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES & AUDITING
- David Scott

Mr Scott is currently a senior partner with Price
Waterhouse Coopers, aswell as being the current president of the Institute
of CharteredAccountants in Zimbabwe. His involvement with the loss document
is toassist farmers and give advice with regards to what is required of them
andhis company could assist with the distribution of compensation if and
whenthe time comes, be it at a national or international
level.

GENERAL ISSUES

The project must be cohesive and focused
with as many people participatingas possible. The document should be
holistic in its approach and shouldpresent a complete scenario in every
respect. The integrity of thedocument is fundamental and must be
transparent and accurate, factual yetsimple to follow and very importantly,
readable, as this document is likelyto be read by people from outside
Zimbabwe. The format of the documentneeds to be standardized, but will
obviously be specific to your particularcase.

FINANCIAL
INFORMATION

Where possible use professionals. In compiling your
information.Historical information is the place to start, but in calculating
a loss ofprofits/earnings a base should be established e.g. this is
where I wasfinancially, this was my base. To give credibility to your
document, useprofessionals and get them to write their assistance to the
document.Accountants, auditors and tax consultants are especially useful
inassisting when trying to establish figures as to what the
variouscomponents in the losses have been incurred. Records are needed
to back upyour claim as well as affidavits. Valuations should be
complete in everyrespect regarding details of the property itself e.g. the
fact that itmight border a commercial transport route/road will affect the
valuation.

In conclusion, Mr Scott said that although the document looks
overwhelming,it's not that difficult to complete, it just takes the
commitment andwillpower to do it. In this respect he encouraged all
farmers to do so.

CONSEQUENTIAL, DISTURBANCE & OTHER LOSSES - Andy
Laing

Mr Laing is a loss assessor from Bulawayo and runs his own firm
Losscon.He was involved in the setting up of the original Loss
Document.

He said that intimidating though the document may seem, the
objective is toencourage farmers to come on board as it is very worthwhile,
empowering andhas a very sobering effect on those who perpetrated the losses
by breakingthe law.

When establishing your losses they should be
broken down into the followingcategories:- Land and Improvements, Loss of
Profits, Moveable Assets,Consequential Losses, Relocation Costs and Human
Rights Abuse in the Diaryof Events.

In order that you end up with a
credible document you need to:

Quantify your losses - Give a $ value on
everything in the document. Baseit on the US$ rate at the
time.

Mitigate your losses - Reduce your losses as
best as you can, i.e. if youhave oranges to market, it is your duty to try
and sell them despite thefact that you may do so at a loss.

Moveable
Property e.g. household effects, farm equipment etc. - whilstthese are in
your possession they are not part of the claim however shouldyou have to
leave tomorrow with a suitcase and leave it all behind itdoes - therefore it
should be covered in your document. To value get toyour current
replacement cost, depreciate it for age and adjust conditionand then you
have a net value. Where things don't depreciate (e.g.teaspoons!) then
use the replacement cost.

CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES

These are a
complicated issue but a basic definition would be any indirectlosses which
result from illegal acts e.g. crops having to be abandonedhalf way through
the season, relocation costs medical costs, legal costsetc. If SI6
payments were extorted this could also be construed as aconsequential
loss. Forced sale of equipment at reduced values etc. andanything else
that has had to be put onto the market. The same ruleapplies here as
with everything else in the document - quantify, verify
&mitigate.

Again don't be intimidated by the document - but take
it one step at a timeand get it done as it empowers you and is to your
benefit to get it done.

LAND & IMPROVEMENTS - Alan Higgins

Mr
Higgins is currently with Redfern and Mullet as a valuator and he isstanding
in for the Chairman of the Valuators Consortium. There are 7firms
involved in the valuation consortium all with internationalexperience.
Their objective is to set up a viable database to assist withclaims for
compensation for land and permanent improvements. The farmers'support
is integral to the success of and to give credibility to theexercise.
Obviously circumstances can change at any time and you can beremoved/added
etc. to the database. Where it's impossible to get onto thefarms, the
valuators can determine the value of the property as well as thevalue of the
destruction that may have taken place since your departure.When valuations
are undertaken, these are done on the basis of fullproduction and not as
they may be now. A market value approach is what islikely to be
required by the international community.

FARM LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS -
Kerry Kay

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishmentof Genocide.

We need to bear in mind that acts of Genocide
need not necessarily kill orcause the death of members of a group:- e.g.
farmers and workers, Matabele,opposition etc.

Genocide means any of
the following acts committed with intent to destroy,in whole or in part, a
national, ethnical, racial or religious group, assuch:-

· Killing
members of the group, which includes direct killing and actionscausing
death.

· Causing serious bodily or mental harm, which includes inflicting
traumaon members of the group, through widespread torture, rape, sexual
violence,forced or coerced use of drugs, and mutilation.

·
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated tobring
about its physical destruction in whole or in part and includes adeliberate
deprivation of resources needed for the group's physicalsurvival, such as
clean water, food, clothing, shelter or medical services.

· Deprivation
of the means to sustain life can be imposed throughconfiscation of harvests,
blockade of foodstuffs, detention in camps,forcible relocation.

These
have been clearly demonstrated by the state-sponsored INVASIONS,EVICTIONS,
LOOTING.

YOUR EMOTIONSHow have the events of the past four years
affected farming families?

COMPENSATIONWho
will do the Trauma evaluation and how will it be calculated?

COMPENSATION
for TRAUMA will be evaluated by Psychologists and Doctors whospecialize in
assessing Victims of Violence and Torture, arrest,
detention,interrogation.

Your DIARY of EVENTS, affidavits, medical
reports etc. will be scrutinizedby these Professionals and compensation will
be calculated as a percentageof your overall losses.

Below is a good
example of an affidavit from Heather Laurie for use in yourloss
document:-AFFIDAVIT

I, the undersigned ...... National ID No.:
......of ...... Farm, Marondera, situate in the District of ......
Zimbabwe,now temporarily resident at ...... do hereby make oath and
swear that:-

1. I was born in ........, Zimbabwe, on ...... since then I
have residedin Marondera, ..... District, Mashonaland Central
Province, Zimbabwe asfollows:-Birth to ..... on my father's farm
known as .....To ..... on my own farm known as ..... until sold
owingTo ill health. ..... To ..... on ..... Farm,
title to which is held by .....(Private) Limited under Deeds Registry Number
.....and in which Company,incorporated in Zimbabwe, myself and my son
..... are the soleshareholders.

2. I am entitled exclusively to
a Zimbabwean passport.

3. My sole professional qualification is the
..... diploma in Agriculturefrom the ..... Agricultural College,
conferred in .....

4. My sole working experience is farm business
management and farmmanagement practice.

6. By authority given to the (Member of
Parliament?) for the .....constituency in the city of ....., (name of "new
owner"), by the Ministerof Agriculture, I was evicted from my home and the
farm on .....

7. To date no compensation has been paid for the farm, nor
has Comrade..... Paid for all the Company's moveable assets retained by
him/her.

8. No executive action by law enforcement agents has followed
the HighCourt of Zimbabwe's ruling given on ..... that the Section 8
Order issuedby the Ministry of Agriculture to acquire ..... Farm
(Private) Limited on.....is invalid. (Case Number HC ..... refers, the
Honourable .....Presiding).

9. This affidavit is sworn to prove that
the action of the only governmentto whose Protection I am entitled
has:-

· Deprived me of my only home,· Deprived me of my assets,·
Deprived me of my income,· Deprived me of my only profession,· Deprived
me of my pension,· Left me without recourse to the law enforcement agents
beyond the rulingsof the High Court of Zimbabwe and that its action has been
taken at a timein my life and state of health which precludes any change of
to myprofession and chance to seek alternative gainful
employment.

SWORN TO at HARARE before me : .....

This .....
day of ....., 2003.

THE JAG LOSS DOCUMENTWhich is a holistic document
includes CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES as well as Landand Improvements.

This
is where the basic Human Rights violations perpetrated against thefarmer's,
their workers and all their families can be documented, evaluatedand
eventually compensated.

This is vital, not just in the interests of the
farming community but allthose Zimbabweans who have suffered extreme trauma
(and in some casesdeath) at the hands of the regime, remembering those who
have died such asmartin Olds, David Stevens, Chiminya and the many others -
their deathsmust not have been in vain.

WHY THE DELAY?!Why the
delay in starting or completing the Loss Doc?!

What is holding some
farmer's back ?

· Denial - battling to face the reality of losing their
home and everythingthey have worked for all their life.

· Workload
involved in completing the Loss Doc.

· Not believing that compensation
will be forthcoming.

PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF OF TIME!!

FARM
WORKERSThe farm workers a you all know have no safety net - they were not
includedin the resettlement plan, many of them do not have kumusha in
Zimbabwe,they have been labelled as the enemy and like it or not were forced
intobeing retrenched.

FARM WORKERS LOSSES.

· From Feb. 2000
list of names/ID numbers of all permanent (and seasonal)workers

· SI6
details

· Affidavits from individuals to back up claims

· Medical
reports

· List of workers material losses

· All backed up by your
Diary of Events

· NB. This is NOT a percentage of the Farmer's
compensation - it is whatthe workers have lost.

Their trauma
compensation will be calculated exactly the same as thefarmer's i.e. a
percentage of:- LOSS OF INCOME, HOME, PERSONAL ITEMS, THEIRRELOCATION
etc.

The lifestyle farmer's and the farm worker's have been subjected to
at thehands of the regime over the past four years is what trauma experts
term"living in a zone of high war stress".

A situation in which the
likelihood of witnessing death, serious injury,and violence is highly
probable and which leads to trauma disorders.

CATHARSISWorking on and
completing the JAG Loss Document is a catharsis, it enablesyou to look your
losses, pain, anger and trauma in the face, research it,document it and
finally lodge it for compensation. In doing so it willenable you to move on,
remembering that all is not lost.

We love our country and that is why THE
TRUTH IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR BECAUSETHE TRUTH ALWAYS PREVAILS OVER
EVIL.

Mr Burl thanked all participants and stressed the importance of
workingtogether i.e. JAG, CFU etc. This needs to be a combined effort
notindependent. In his opinion the JAG document is the most
comprehensivedocument he's seen when compared to others he's seen., but from
hisstatistics 3 - 4% of farmers had filled out the JAG loss document
comparedwith 30-40% who had filled out the CFU one page document.
Acceptance ofthe two bodies of one Loss Document would be beneficial to
everyone. Hesuggested that implementing a team of people from each
district to betrained by professionals to compile loss documents might
expedite thecompletion of documents - these people would sign
confidentialityagreements and the service provided would be paid for
separately.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

Q. We are confused by all
the seemingly different databases we need to `getonto' - which one should we
be concentrating on?A. Mr Burl responded that the basic plan is to produce a
single document,which will be easier, with a team of dedicated people
helping to compile it.

Q. If one's son has lost his farming career would
his loss of income andexpenses involved in trying to find other employment
be considered aconsequential loss?A. Mr Scott responded that any loss in
whatever form should be construed asa consequential loss. The Loss
document represents what you, your family,managers and farm labourers have
lost and their claims should be submittedvia your loss document.

Q.
If a farm has no Section 8 (or it's been nullified), and you are
stillevicted is there a basis to claim? If the new farmers are being
"financed"can I sue?A. Mr Bennet responded that the first action to take
would be againstwhoever has evicted you. Then seek proof of financing
as well as proofthat the financiers are aware that they are financing
someone who hasperpetrated a criminal act. This imperative to form the
nexus (link).Once you have established this, institute a combined lawsuit -
against thefarmer and the financier who has acquiesced their criminal
act. You arenot wasting your time claiming.

Q. There are lots
of farmers who aren't listed but Agritex have pegged.How do we set the
prescription period of 3 years?A. Mr Bennet responded that this is where
your diary of events comes intoplay and is most important. Legally
once someone commits an unlawful actthis is the date the prescription period
should begin. In the case ofsettlers coming onto the farm and
settling, legal action should have beenimplemented and summons issued to
remove them.

Q. Many farmers with Sections 5 and 8 have managed to get
them overturnedbut circumstances on the farm and the likelihood of having to
abandon cropsmidway etc. has prevented them from returning and carrying on
withoperations. How then can losses be proved in light of the fact
thatlegally there's apparently nothing to stop them from going back?A.
Mr Bennet responded that again this is where your diary of events comesin
and you should be able to support the facts with affidavits etc. toprove
that although in theory you can return, circumstances on the groundprevent
you from doing so.

Q. Consequential Losses worry me immensely - do we
have to start suingindividually, everyone from the war vets upwards?A.
There's nothing preventing you from instituting individual lawsuits toobtain
eviction orders etc. In the event you win your lawsuit you may notget
the money you are suing for, but it will serve as proof of theillegality of
the situation. If you do recover damages from a lawsuit,then a credit
would have to be shown on your loss document.

Q. Farmer/miner told by
Lands Committee to hand over keys to his home,workshop etc. and to vacate
his residence. He handed his keys to ZRP forsafekeeping who gave them
to the Lands Committee. His Security Guards werechased away and his
safe was broken into and gold and other valuables werestolen, as well as
cattle. Despite seeking the courts assistance andwinning his court
case ZRP refused to assist him and he was told to get outof the Police
Station. Does his mining rights supersede his farmingrights?
Does he sue government, the DA, ZRP etc. as he has had no Section8?A. Mr
Bennet said that unfortunately although lawyers can direct, they
can'tprotect you from lawlessness. The provisions of the Mines Act
providesthat mine claims don't fall under the Land Acquisition Act.
You need toseek an order to evict the illegal settlers and then claim
damages fromthem, then get all this documentation into your loss document to
show what'sbeen suffered. You are well within your rights to sue
whichever Ministryis involved.

Q. We challenged our Sections 5 and 8
in the High Court and they werenullified, so will we qualify for
compensation?A. Mr Burl said that although he couldn't say whether you
qualify or notand that there was no guarantee of compensation, what is
important is tohave a record and qualify your reasons for not going back to
the farm. MrScott reiterated the importance of getting this class
action together nowotherwise you have no chance at all. By completing
your JAG Loss Documentyou keep the doors open. (Mr Worsley-Worswick
said that the next flagshipcase after Quinnell is the Rule of law case - JAG
are gathering affidavitsnow - proof of breakdown of Rule of Law also
pertains to the Quinnell caseas does the illegal implementation of the
amended Labour Relations Actpertaining to SI6 retrenchment
package.

Q. We live in a country ruled by rot. We try to go to
Court but in mostcases the presiding judges are political appointees.
What about suingpolitical parties on an international level as was the case
of Dave Steven'swidow?A. Mr Burl pointed out that the purpose of this
meeting was not toestablish who to sue but to make sure your ready and
prepared to sue! Againcomplete your loss document and you can start thinking
about suing!

Q. How much time have we got to submit the JAG Loss
Document?A. The quicker the better, but make sure it is done well.

Q.
Can there be a standard value set out for claims with particularreference to
household goods e.g. T.V., fridge etc.A. It's not practical as prices of
goods have/are so varied, so invoices,receipts etc. are needed. Again
use the professionals and in this casespecifically, insurance
people.

Q. I completed my Loss Document and submitted it in August
2002. I need toupdate it - how do I go about doing that?A. There
must be provision for an annex at the end of the Loss Document.

Q. What
will be needed from the compilers of the JAG Loss Document is tohave amounts
set at US$ at the rate that year otherwise it will mess up thecredibility of
the other Loss Documents.A. Mr Scott responded that you have to use the
official rate that wasapplicable at that time. Mr Higgs warned farmers
to be careful as theywon'tbe paid over and above what it's worth, so
your integrity when doingyour document is paramount.

Q. How far
forward do you have to look to evaluate consequential losses?A. Mr Scott
said a 5 year period, however it should be determined accordingto your age,
income etc. Many people have lost everything e.g. pensionsetc. and are
too mature to make a new plan now.

Q. The valuation done on our property
had to be the official rate of thatday.A. Mr Higgins said that you have
to apply the same principles years later.All valuations are done on a US$
basis. Stick to the official rate, theUS$ doesn't change much.
All database information and valuations are inUS$'s

Q. Re; validation
- is a statement from one's accountant or auditorssuffice or should invoices
be sought to prove values?A. Mr Laing said that provided they stamp it, it
should be okay. Mr Scottsaid that financial statements prepared for
banks are historical, whatshould be attained is the discounted and adjusted
replacement cost, nothistorical costs, therefore you need physical records
of what you own toestablish the current replacement costs.

Q. How
similar are valuations done by the different parts of the Consortium?A.
There has been confusion between firms, but now all firms are
workingtogether and working on one database and to one format.

Q. Is
there commonality of documents between JAG and CFU? Having alreadypaid
one organization, can't we get them free of charge?A. Mrs Kay said that $25
000 wasn't too much to pay considering the immenseamount of work that has
gone into JAG's very comprehensive document anddatabase back up. She
said that CFU document is entirely different in thatit seeks only collective
information. This was attested to by Mr Davidsonof the CFU who stated
that the CFU was not in this market. Mr Burl saidthat the CFU have
done no work on a Loss Document but hopefully especiallyif tasked by the
farmers, JAG and the CFU can work together.

Q. I had my farm valued by
the Consortium at a cost of $750 000. When Iqueried this it was
reduced but I still receive bills?A. Mr Higgins said that you have to take
this up with the individual firmyou dealt with to resolve this, but in the
meantime you need to pay yourregistration fee to the Consortium to get onto
the database. Mr Bennetasked Mr Higgins to explain their charges and
in response Mr Higgins saidthat the Valuation Consortium charges were $23
000 for registration, anadditional $60 000 - $63 000 verification fee if the
farm has not beenvalued. If compensation is achieved then they will
receive a percentage(3.15%) of the value of the land and improvement
compensated.

Mr Bennet queried the JAG costs and asked what farmers got
in return fortheir investment. JAG membership is $25 000 annually, and
an additional$10 000 to lodge your Loss Document. JAG is not a union
and is fundedpurely by donations and membership. JAG brokered the
Valuators Consortiumand has initiated various Legal cases in support of the
compensation issue.JAG provides free advice, support and strategy not only
for litigation butalso for a holistic approach to restitution/implementation
which alsoincludes publicity, lobbying and advocacy.

CFU charge
according to your turnover with a minimum annual subscription
of$28000. Should the idea of setting up teams of individuals to
compile LossDocuments be implemented this will be a separate cost to be paid
by thefarmer over and above all other charges.

Q. Many farms
registered after 1981 have the legal stamp of Government onthem.A. Mr
Bennet pointed out the Certificate of No Present Interest, explainingthat
they can in fact show an interest at a later date.

Mr Burl thanked
everyone for their attendance and asked for a show of handsto ascertain
acceptance of the JAG Loss Claim Document and show support fora joint
JAG/CFU way forward - this was unanimous.

On May 16, 2003, the Lawyers Committee for Human
Rights sent a letter toeach of the G8 heads of state, prior to their Summit
at Evian, France fromJune 1 to 3, 2003. The letter raises concerns about the
implementation ofthe G8's Africa Action Plan in light of the ongoing human
rights violationsbeing committed in Zimbabwe. In the letter, the Lawyers
Committee urges theG8 members to ensure that the current crisis in Zimbabwe
receives sufficientattention at the Summit in Evian. The letter points out
that resolution ofthe crisis in Zimbabwe is not only a legal and moral
imperative, butfundamental to the successful implementation of the G8's
Africa Action Planand the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD).

The letter states in part:"The crisis in Zimbabwe is a litmus
test for theefficacy of your discussions. The situation in Zimbabwe starkly
contradictsthe principles contained in NEPAD and supported by the Africa
Action Plan.Moreover, Zimbabwean civil society groups are routinely being
persecuted,which hampers their efforts to promote respect for human rights
and the ruleof law. Many crises of poverty, disease, armed conflict, and
denial ofdemocracy and human rights continue to plague Africa and
fundamentallyundermine efforts to achieve sustainable development. Combating
such crisesrequires effective, co-ordinated strategies among African states
andsupported by the international community. The current situation in
Zimbabweis one such crisis, the details of which are well-documented by
local andinternational organizations. Since your June 2002 meeting, the
situation inZimbabwe has further deteriorated, and it is largely the black
populationthat is targeted for abuse. Serious human rights violations
committed by thegovernment and its agents continue to receive insufficient
attention bothwithin the region and internationally. Efforts to end the
crisis mustinvolve the combined efforts of governments and civil society
groups inAfrica which are encouraged by the G8. Fundamental human rights
issues mustbe addressed, including bringing an end to political violence,
arbitrarydetention and torture, restoring full freedom of expression and
association,ensuring the independence of the judiciary, and combating
impunity for humanrights abuses."

Sir: Permitting the Zimbabwe cricket team to tour England
this summer is agross error of judgement by Tim Lamb and the English County
Cricket Board.They have abdicated their moral responsibility to uphold the
good name ofcricket and the noble values that the game represents.

By
allowing a team that has been "politically vetted" and whose patron isRobert
Mugabe to tour England, the ECB have tarnished the good name ofEnglish
cricket. The very fact that Mugabe is patron of the Zimbabwe CricketUnion
renders the cricketers touring here as inadvertent ambassadors of
aninsidious and illegitimate regime. The tour therefore misleadingly
suggeststhat things are normal in Zimbabwe.

Things are far from
normal in Zimbabwe: state sponsored violence isubiquitous, opposition MPs
are harassed, beaten and tortured, basicdemocratic rights have been
subverted whilst a politically inducedhumanitarian crisis has left over
seven million in desperate need of foodaid.

It was in protest against
the crisis in Zimbabwe that the courageousZimbabwean cricketers, Henry
Olonga and Andy Flower, wore black armbandsduring the Cricket world cup in
Zimbabwe. They sacrificed theirinternational careers for the sake of
democracy in Zimbabwe.

It is a pity that the ECB has not demonstrated
similar moral resolve. Byputting profit before principle the ECB is saying
to the millions sufferingin Zimbabwe "we do not care". What a sad day indeed
for cricket. That is whywe shall be participating in a peaceful protest at
the test match onThursday, 22 May.

HARARE,
May 19 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's secret service chief told a court onMonday his
organisation took seriously claims opposition leader MorganTsvangirai was
plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe because it had hadsimilar
information.

Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), and twosenior party colleagues are on trial for allegedly plotting to
kill Mugabe.If convicted they could face the death penalty.

The
treason charges against the three hinge on a videotape of a meeting inCanada
between political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai, whoallegedly
discussed Mugabe's "elimination". The tape was recorded justbefore
Ben-Menashe's firm signed a consultancy contract with the
Zimbabwegovernment.

"Prior to Mr. Ben-Menashe coming to Zimbabwe, we
had received informationfrom other sources that there was a plot to
assassinate the president ofZimbabwe," prosecution witness Happyton
Bonyongwe, director-general of theCentral Intelligence Organisation (CIO),
told the High Court.

Chief defence lawyer George Bizos objected to
Bonyongwe giving details,saying the information was prejudicial to his
clients and could not beverified.

Bonyongwe confirmed the CIO had
given Ben-Menashe's political consultancy acontract to lobby for the
government abroad and had paid him to get videotape evidence.

"He
wanted some financial assistance and a payment was made," Bonyongwe toldthe
court.

Ben-Menashe, challenged as an unreliable witness by the defence,
has said hetaped the meeting solely to get evidence for the government but
deniedentrapping Tsvangirai.

The defence says the video was doctored
to discredit the MDC, the mostpotent challenge to Mugabe's power since he
led the country to independencefrom Britain in 1980 and as Zimbabwe grapples
with its worst political andeconomic crisis in decades.

Defence
lawyers have also said the words "assassination" and "coup d'etat"do not
appear either on the video tape or on an audio recording of anearlier
meeting between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai in London.

Tsvangirai is
legally challenging Mugabe's victory in March 2002presidential elections,
which both the opposition and several Westerncountries condemned as
fraudulent.

THE appointment of Baroness Valerie Amos as
British internationaldevelopment department secretary, after the resignation
of Clare Short lastMonday, is as historic as it is significant.

The
department is the modernday version of what used to be the colo-niesoffice
set up in 1929, when the UK first recognised its "responsibility forthe
development of its colonies on a continuing basis". The Britishparliament
agreed to set aside a sum not exceeding £1m a year for
thispurpose.

Amos's budget will be about £4,6bn a year in 2005 as a
result of a £1,5bnincrease announced last July. This compares favourably
with the marketcapitalisation of some of SA's leading firms and the budgets
of some poorAfrican countries.

Amos is the first person from a former
British colony (she arrived in the UKfrom Guyana at the age of nine) to
preside over the department that wasclosely associated with the colonial
process. More significantly, she joinsanother child of the colonies Paul
Boateng (treasury secretary and formermember of the UK anti-apartheid
movement) as the second senior black personin the cabinet of Prime Minister
Tony Blair.

At the prior Labour Party conference Blair challenged Britons
to think aboutsocial mobility, by wondering whether Colin Powell would be in
a similarlysenior post if his parents had emigrated to Britain instead of
the US.

However, Amos's appointment is important for other reasons, not
leastbecause of her department's significance to Africa. Of overseas aid
thedepartment administers, 75% goes to Africa. Blair elevated the
departmenthead to cabinet level when Labour came to power in 1997. Before
that it wascalled the overseas development administration and led by the
outspokenBaroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey, who served under the Thatcher
and JohnMajor Tory administrations.

Short took over from Chalker. She
became very popular and outspoken as achampion of developing and poor
countries, and as a critic of Blair'smodernisation some would say
Thatcherite project which sought to transformparty and country
alike.

The Iraqi War led to Robin Cook's resignation as leader of the
House ofCommons. Short called Blair "reckless" and threatened to quit.
Blairundertook to ensure a central role for the United Nations (UN) in
rebuildingpost-war Iraq. Short got upset by the marginalisation of the UN in
recent USresolutions supported by Britain.

For Short, it was time to
go. For Amos it was time for a big and historiccareer move. As minister for
Africa, Amos built a good reputation as aneffective and loyal performer for
Blair. Unlike the critics of Blair's wareffort, Amos stood by his side and
travelled around Africa to rallycountries with seats on the security
council.

Later, after the war had begun, she visited SA and Botswana with
the messagefrom Blair that Africa will not be allowed to fall off the
world's agenda.She conveyed Westminster's sympathy and understanding for
Pretoria's stanceon Zimbabwe but did not hesitate to say business people she
spoke to wereconcerned about it.

What, then, does her appointment
mean for Africa? First, it means Africa'sposition in Westminster is
strengthened. As part of Blair's senior team Amoswould want to have a
visible and positive effect on Africa's development.Her integrity should
provide a basis for deepening trust between Britain anddeveloping especially
African countries.

Second, Nepad (the New Partnership for Africa's
Development) stands to win.Amos was Blair's special envoy on the Group of
Eight-Nepad committee set upto ensure proper co-ordination of efforts and
initiatives.

Her appointment to head the department is therefore good for
Nepad thedepartment is the channel through which the British government
supportsNepad.

Third, Amos has a close affinity to SA. In her
previous life as a consultantshe advised Pretoria on the Employment Equity
Act, human rights and publicservice reform.

However, she will face
several challenges in dealing with Africa.

She will need to ensure aid
goes not just to those who need it most butthose who most deserve it. This
requires distributing aid in a ways thatreward positive behaviour and punish
bad behaviour.

She will also need to deal with difficult and quarrelsome
African leaders.Balancing the soft and the hard aspects of her brief will
prove to be achallenge. Also, as department head, she will be responsible
for driving theUK's contribution to meeting the millennium development goals
aimed athalving global poverty by 2015, increasing the development budget
anddevelopment assistance as a proportion of gross domestic product
(GDP).

Last year the UK increased its official development assistance by
£1,5bnwhich will make it reach 0,4% of GDP by 2005, just below the UN target
of0,7% of GDP for rich nations.

Finally, mobilising the US to
increase its official development assistancecontribution as a proportion of
its GDP will be another challenge for Amos.Washington's aid expenditure is
less than 0,13% of GDP.

Amos is the right person at the right time for
Africa and Blair. Nepad inparticular should benefit from having one of its
key supporters in astrategically significant position.

Mobilising the
US to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Britain and increaseits aid
contribution to the level required by the UN and to back Nepad as
itsupported the Marshall Plan may well be the acid test for
Amos.

Dlamini is currently with Templeton College at Oxford University in
the UK.

A group, who claim to be protesting the death
of democracy inZimbabwe, have given warning that they will gather outside
Lord's on thefirst day of the first Test on
Thursday.

The group organisers claim that
"a large number of exiled victims ofRobert Mugabe's tyranny" will
participate in the protest, which they addwill be
peaceful.

Before gathering at Lord's, the
group plans to travel through Londonon an open-topped bus. They will stop at
the Zimbabwe High Commission to"hand over a letter to the High Commissioner
calling for an end to statesponsored political violence in
Zimbabwe."

The group appear to have taken
the theme of their protest from themessage delivered by Andy Flower and
Henry Olonga at the World Cup. Bothplayers wore armbands during the
competition, mourning what they called thedeath of democracy in their
country.

Flower and Olonga have
subsequently ended their international
careers.

Upon their arrival in England,
the Zimbabwe Cricket Union addressedthe media and emphasised its apolitical
nature and the legitimacy of itstour. The union made clear that an
interruption of the tour by protestswould be an unjustified
act.

The economic facts of life have been spelled out very
clearly to President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe government. The country,
they have been told by local, African and foreign specialists, is on the brink
of meltdown; of a descent into long-term chaos.

Tobacco, once the forex mainstay of the country,
reached the auction floors here this year. But instead of earnings in the region
of $600m the sale of the sorely depleted crop netted just $150m.

By the end of next month, the planting season begins.
But most commercial farmers are off the land.

About a third of them have fled Zimbabwe, some to
farm in neighbouring Mozambique, others further afield. More than half the
original farmers have, however, remained, for the most part staying in temporary
accommodation in the cities, in the hope of gaining some redress or being
allowed to return to their farms.

They constitute a resource that the government has,
for the most part, realised it must deploy if the agricultural sector is to get
back on its feet. This sector includes not just the forex earners such as
tobacco and horticulture, but also food production.

Much of the livestock has been slaughtered or died as
a result of drought, but some herds are still intact. Grazing is also relatively
plentiful in most areas.

A high proportion of the farms seized for
resettlement are also now deserted. Apart from a few commercial farms seized by
members of the governing elite, most of the confiscated property was parcelled
out to unemployed urban dwellers who had no experience of farming.

They were also given no training, no inputs or any
other assistance. Most have now left the land.

Even politically, it should be possible for the
government to re-introduce the originally evicted farmers who remain. This could
be done on the grounds that they have proved their merit; that those with a
OEcolonialist mentality¹ have left.

Agriculture is important, but Zimbabwe does, in the
long term, have a platinum ‹ or pgm ‹ secured economy (<I>Africa Analysis,
passim</I>). As we have noted, mining has been little affected by the
turmoil of the past year and more.

Platinum group metals seem likely to continue to be
in demand and Zimbabwe contains the second largest known deposits in the world
after South Africa. Given the dominance of the southern African region in this
marketplace and the fact that South Africa¹s Anglo American and Impala Platinum
control most production on both sides of the border, the price is unlikely to
fall.

The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and
the US have also agreed that aid will be forthcoming if a political settlement
can be reached. This, together with debt roll-overs and perhaps some forgiveness
will be desperately needed, especially if the industrial sector is to be
revived.

Zimbabwe has also lost some 60% of all its registered
professionals, ranging from doctors and nurses to engineers and
accountants.

Most appear to have established themselves in other
countries and are unlikely to return.

However, if action can be taken in the agricultural
sector by August and with the income from pgm production and, to a much lesser
extent, gold, the country could begin a steady turn-round.